Fossil fuels are a predominant energy source throughout the world. However, the mining and use of fossil fuels as an energy source causes environmental issues as well as being a major contributor to global warming. Alternative, non-fossil fuel energy sources such as renewable energy resources have become an important technological need for the decades to come. Some examples of predominant renewable energy resources include but are not limited to ocean wave energy, hydroelectric, wind energy, biofuels, solar energy, geothermal energy, and the like. Many electricity generators that capture the energy of these renewable energy resources involve turbines coupled to generators that comprise a magnet and coil that operate based on magnetic induction principals. These mechanical systems are large and expensive to produce and maintain.
Piezoelectric materials have been used to generate electricity for small devices such as sensors, personal devices, medical devices, and the like. Piezoelectric materials generate an electrical signal as a result of being put under a mechanical load. Piezoelectric materials are formed into small cantilever beams that can range from a several micrometers to a few millimeters. The vibrations of the cantilever beam cause the piezoelectric material to undergo cyclic tension and compression and thus a voltage is produced across its sides. The produced voltage is in the order of a few millivolts. Applications of devices that incorporate piezoelectric materials include distributed sensor networks in which there is a large number of remote sensors which are difficult to maintain regarding battery replacement. However, electricity generation using piezoelectric materials has been limited to low power generation. These and other shortcomings are addressed in the present disclosure.